If you felt yesterday's rain was more than usual for this time of year, you're not alone.

Tauranga was saturated by half its monthly average rainfall, causing widespread flooding in the area.

MetService meteorologist Peter Little says there were a couple of intense periods.

'In the hour to 3am yesterday morning there was 11.4mm of rainfall in Tauranga. We consider 6mm to be heavy, so that's quite a lot of rain. Between 9am and 10am a further 11.6mm feel in that hour.

'In the nine hour period until 10am yesterday morning, a total of 44mm was recorded at the airport – half the monthly average of 90mm.”

He says recent conditions have been ideal for these short, intense bursts of bad weather.

'What we've had in the upper North Island is a prolonged period of north-easterlies, which makes it warm and muggy. These conditions allow rain clouds to hold more moisture, hence the intense periods of rain.”

After SunLive published news on flooding caused by yesterday's heavy rain – including the closure of the Maleme Street Transfer Station – readers sent in several photos of flooding in their own areas. Take a look at the photos here.

The forecast for the rest of the week is occasional rain, with highs remaining in the 20s.